Fate
by Leolivia22
Summary: Fate, with a little bit of crazy, force Riley and Lucas to realize how they really feel. Maybe all it would take is for the universe to make a decision along with the "help" of a couple of little kids. (Formerly named "Rucas for the Holidays")
1. Chapter 1

Riley POV

It's Christmas Eve! I can't wait for Christmas! This is my favorite time of the year. Nothing could ruin the wonderful mood I'm always in during the holidays. I automatically felt something different in the air, when I woke up-Christmas spirit. I jumped out of my bed and almost tore my closet apart looking for a holiday-type of outfit, but not the cutest one I could find. I'm saving that one for Christmas day. I desperately needed some help, preferably from my best friend who happens to be out of town with her new family. Maya told me she would be here in time for us to hang out with the rest of our friends. Putting that thought aside, I got dressed and skipped down the stairs and sat at the table. Auggie was already there, waiting for me to come down. My mom was in the kitchen, making breakfast. As always, my dad was still upstairs, taking his sweet old time.

"Good morning Riley!" Auggie greeted me. "Are you excited for Christmas tomorrow?"

"Yeah!" I replied, as if to say 'duh'. "Of course I'm excited! I love Christmas!"

Auggie and I kept talking about our plans for the day with our friends. While I was going to spend the day with my closest friends, Auggie was planning on spending the day with his "wife" Ava. Soon enough my parents joined us at the table and we ate breakfast together. After we finished, I ran up to my room to make sure I actually looked good for when my friends show up. I wasn't particularly excited to see all of my friends, just a specific one, Lucas. I don't know what it is about him, but I seem to always get butterflies when he's around. I checked out my outfit, making sure I actually looked good for him. I was kinda lost in my own world at the moment.

Lucas POV

Christmas Eve… Another day going by where my family has a family party. It was just me, my little sister Jessica, my mom, Pappy Joe, Zay, and his mom. I didn't look forward to the holidays. It just brings back memories of how the people in my family always walk out on us. But when I woke up this Christmas Eve, something felt different. It seemed like the holidays weren't going to be so bad this year. I thought about reasons why this might be, realizing why… My friends! I made some incredible friends this year in New York and being with them always helped me forget what happened at the house. I had every different type of friend I could possibly need. Smackle, the genius who still has work to do with her etiquette skills. Farkle, the other genius who has really grown this year. Zay, the goofy knucklehead who always seems to find his way around trouble and never fails to tell a good story. Maya, the fiery little blonde who I've had some mixed feelings for, but we've realized it's not meant to be. Last, but definitely not least, I could always count on having Riley by my side. Riley, the cute brunette, always sticking her nose in other people's business and trying to make everything right with the world. I've adored that girl for a while now, more since the triangle doesn't exist anymore. Remembering that I am supposed to be at Riley's apartment by 8:00, I sprung out of bed. I looked for a "festive" outfit because Riley told us we had to wear something cheery. I got dressed and went through a daily routine, passing by my mom's room, checking on her. She was still asleep so I closed her door and spent another few minutes running through the apartment, stopping right before the door when I saw my little sister, Jessica sitting in front of it. She paused in her actions and looked up at me, curiously.

"Lukey," She started, "Where are you going?"

"I have to meet up with my friends." I spoke softly. "Don't worry. I'll be back soon."

"When will you be back?" Jess asked. "Can we still make those Christmas cookies?"

While I didn't enjoy the holidays, Jess loved this time of year. I've always felt bad that she was growing up exactly like me- without true holiday experiences. I looked down at the 7-year old little blonde girl standing in front of me, and for the first time in a while, I smiled genuinely.

"Yeah" I said, holding out my pinkie. "I promise I'll be home before 6:30 so we can."

Jessica wrapped her pinkie around mine and gave me a big hug. I hugged her back and lifted her into the air, twirling her around. She started giggling and that brought the smile back to my face. I set her down, said goodbye, grabbed my jacket and started walking to Riley's apartment.


	2. Chapter 2

Nobody's POV

Lucas reached Riley's apartment around 7:45, so he figured their friends wouldn't be there yet. It was normal for Lucas to go through the Bay Window, so he decided to enter that way. When he reached the window, he saw the most beautiful girl he's ever seen staring at her own reflection in the mirror… Riley Matthews. He knocked on the window, laughing when Riley jumped in shock. He smiled as she got closer, finally being able to see her clearly as she opened the window.

"Hey, Lucas!" Riley greeted, slightly nervous and full of glee. "Come in."

Lucas smiled as he climbed through the Bay Window and sat on the other side of it. He watched as she moved about the room, picking up various objects from the floor and stuffing them in her closet. When she finished and sat down next to Lucas, they began talking about the holidays.

"So, do you have any plans for tomorrow, Christmas day?" Riley asked.

"You know," Lucas started. "Your family seems to absolutely love the holiday season. You guys go all out in decorations and go the whole 9 yards… My family isn't like that… We aren't really into the holidays. We don't have that holiday cheer or feeling of joy on Christmas. I wish we did, so Jess could experience it… But I don't think she'll get the chance to experience any of it either."

"Either?" Riley asked. "What do you mean by that?"

"... I didn't experience any white Christmases or any huge celebrations like you guys do."

"Aww… I'm sorry, Lucas…" Riley looked for words of comfort, but instead she came up with a brilliant plan. "Wait! What if you spent Christmas here? Like, with us?"

"What?" Lucas was shocked by her words and suggestion.

"You know." Riley explained herself. "You could experience your first Christmas in New York with us! We could share our traditions with you and give you a holiday experience you never had. We're having a party here tomorrow anyways. We could even share this Christmas with Jess too."

At the thought of allowing Jess to finally have an amazing Christmas experience, Lucas' eyes lit up and he started feeling giddy. He was happy that Riley was offering such an amazing thing, but a thought crossed his mind.

"Oh… I would really love that… but Jess and I are supposed to be spending the holidays with my mom, Pappy Joe, and Zay's family… I can't ditch out on our little annual get together… " Lucas said.

"... Well, that's fine! You should be spending the holidays with your family." Riley started, a look of thought on her face. "Wait… You're going to be with Zay tomorrow?"

"Yeah," Lucas started. "He and his mom always spend Christmas with us. Why?"

"Well, I asked Zay if he wanted to come over tomorrow to the party." Riley slowly said, trying to process things herself. "He said he was free and that he would come."

"Zay would never miss the get together if his mom didn't let him…" Lucas was confused.

"Maybe he asked his mom and she let him?" Riley suggested.

"Uh… Maybe." Lucas said, still thinking. "I'll ask my mom when I get home. But, for now let's think about today. What're we going to do today?"

"I came up with a few things," Riley started. "But I figured that, along the way, we would spontaneously come up with other plans anyways. I thought we could go to Topanga's first, go ice skating after, and at the end of the day we can come back here, give our gifts out, talk, decorate the tree, maybe watch a movie? We can fill in the gaps as we go along. How does that sound?"

"It sounds like you already have most of the work done. It sounds like a great plan!"

As Riley was about to respond, they heard a buzz, signaling that their friends were there. Lucas had a disappointed look in his eyes and Riley could see it as she got up to let her friends in.

"Hey, Peaches! Farkle, Zay, Smackle. Maya, how was your trip?" Riley exclaimed, giving them all a hug.

"Hey Riles, Huckleberry! It was great, but I don't care about that! I care about today." Maya replied. "What's the plan?"

"Uh, Riley was just telling me of it." Lucas said, before Riley had the chance. "She planned to go over to Topanga's, as usual, then go ice skating. We can improvise along the way like we do everyday. She suggested going ice skating, which I think would be a great experience, right Zay?"

"Ice skating?!" Zay basically screamed out. "Yes! I would love to go ice skating!"

"And after that, we can come back here, give gifts, and maybe watch a movie." Riley said.

"That sounds like a pretty great plan to me. Smackle?" Farkle asked.

"I like it…" Smackle said with a genuine smile. "It would be something… different."

The group said goodbye to the Matthews adults and Auggie and headed to Topanga's.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: This chapter is mostly focused on the relationship that Lucas has with his family. The next chapter will be more focused on Lucas and Riley spending time together on Christmas.**

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Nobody's POV

They ate breakfast before heading over to the ice skating rink. On the way there, as expected, the gang stopped at a few places - candy stores, an antique shop, and a jewelry store. They stayed in the jewelry store the longest, everybody saw something they liked so they all bought stuff. After they stopped at all of those places, they walked to the rink and paid for their skates. Lucas, Zay, and Smackle had never gone ice skating so Riley, Maya, and Farkle helped them out, starting with the ice skates. As soon as they skates were on, Zay stood up and fell, knocking Lucas over with him. Riley and Maya could have passed out from laughing so hard at them. Once the guys had finally gotten up and stabilized themselves, Maya led Zay into the ice, Farkle took Smackle which left Riley to help Lucas.

"I just want to let you know," Riley grabbed onto the bar once they were on ice. "I'm not exactly the best skater in the world. You might be better than me."

"Yeah right!" Lucas retorted, following her actions of grabbing the bar. "I'm already falling over here."

Across the ice, Maya, Farkle, Zay, and Smackle stopped and stood together, watching Riley and Lucas skate together. Zay easily picked up the skill of skating and he and Maya were able to skate in the middle of the rink without the bar. Smackle was almost getting the hang of skating, but she would still fall every now and then. Riley and Lucas found no hope or hint of success during the skating. They still had fun but they fell more times than they can count with their fingers. More than once, Riley fell into Lucas, sending them both to the ground in laughter. As much as her butt hurt from falling many times, Riley would admit that she had a ton of fun with Lucas.

It was already around 6:00 when the group got back to Riley's house with their bags full of candy, gifts, and other little things bought along the way. Riley popped the movie in the player while the others put their stuff away so nobody would snoop through their bags. Everybody brought out the candies they had bought from the candy store to eat during the movie and Riley went to make popcorn. When Lucas checked the clock and saw the time, he inwardly sighed. He needed to be home before 6:30 to make the cookies with Jess. He sighed, standing up and moving to grab his bags and jacket. Before he could reach the door, Riley called out to him from the kitchen.

"Lucas?" She called. "Where are you going? We haven't even given out the gifts yet."

"Oh… gifts." He sighed, everyone was staring at him, waiting for an answer. "I promised Jess I would be home by 6:30, to make Christmas cookies with her… sorry."

"Don't even worry about it!" Zay waved at him. "Go home. Spend time with your sister."

"Yeah! Nobody's going to blame you for wanting to celebrate Christmas Eve with family." piped Smackle.

"Thanks guys." Lucas smiled. "I could actually just leave your gifts here for you guys."

Lucas started pulling individual gifts out for his friends. They all watched as he set them all down under the Christmas tree. When he was done, he turned to the group, waved goodbye, and walked out the door. When Lucas got home, it was 6:25. He opened the door and almost got knocked over when Jessica jumped on him.

"Lucas! Your home!" She screamed. "Finally!"

"Finally? What are you talkin' about? I told you I'd be home before 6:30… It's before 6:30."

"Yeah, but you've been gone all day. I've been waiting for you to come back." She said, her smile fading. He smiled at her. No matter how bad his day could be, Lucas could always count on his little sister to make it better. He was so grateful for her.

"Well, now that I'm home, we can make those cookies." Lucas' smile grew bigger.

"Yay! Can I mix it this time? Please, Luke?" She jumped up and down, hoping he'd say yes.

"Alright, but no more jumping. There are people downstairs." He just couldn't say no to her. "Before we start, let me go talk to mommy, okay?"

"Okay! I'll be in the kitchen." She skipped away.

Lucas walked down the hall, to his mom's room. He knocked on her door before opening it.

"Momma? Can I talk to you real quick?" His mom was sitting on her bed, working in her laptop. She looked up at him and stopped working.

"Sure. What do you need?"

"Uh… My friend, Riley, is having a Christmas party tomorrow and she wanted to know if Jessica and I could go. So I wanted to ask you about it."

"I actually think that's a great idea. Pappy Joe was supposed to fly out here, but since its snowing in this area, his flight got cancelled. And Zay's family has other plans for tomorrow, anyways. You can go to the party, but why is Jess going to go?"

"Riley invited us both. She has a little brother, Auggie. I think she didn't want him to feel left out. I think she should go too. It'd be a great Christmas experience." He wanted Jess to know what a true Christmas felt like with big celebratons and everything.

"Okay, then. You guys can both go tomorrow. Just let me know before you leave in the morning."

"Thanks momma. I love you." Lucas placed a kiss on her cheek, already pulling his phone out to text Riley and tell her that he and Jess would be there.

"I love you too, Luke."

He walked out and joined a very excited Jess in the kitchen. Because he was taller, he grabbed all of the ingredients and placed them on the table in front of Jess. She told Lucas what to put in the bowl and she mixed it all. Once Jess was happy with the batter, Lucas placed it on a tray and put it in the oven. While they waited for the cookies to bake, the two siblings watched TV. Jess ate the rest of the batter from the mixing bowl. When Lucas heard the 'ding' of the oven, signaling that the cookies were done baking, he stood and grabbed the tray from the oven. Jess ran into the kitchen, excited to see how the cookies turned out.

"They look great, Jess. Once they cool down, you can decorate them. You just have to wait a little while, okay?" Lucas told her.

"Okay. How long? I don't want to wait." She looked up at her brother.

"Maybe a few minutes. I know you don't want to, but you need to or else you'll burn yourself."

"Ugh… Okay." She sighed and walked away. Lucas followed her, laughing and shaking his head at how a little girl could act like she was his age. In the next half hour, they decorated the cookies and also managed to get frosting and sprinkles all over the kitchen floor. Lucas sent the 7-year old off to take a shower and wash the frosting off of herself. It took him another half hour to finish cleaning the kitchen. When he was done, he walked toward the bathroom. He knocked on the door, talking quietly.

"Jess? Are you done in there?" He could hear her moving to unlock the door, letting him in.

"No. I couldn't get the frosting out of my hair." She gave him a look, basically telling him to do it for her.

"Alright, let me ask mom for some help, okay?" He walked to his mom's room. When she heard what happened, she ran over and looked to see how bad it was.

"Lucas! How could you let her get frosting all over her!"

"We were decorating cookies. We got carried away and I have it in my hair too." He tried washing it out but eventually, his mom helped them both clean and rid themselves of the frosting. Then, she sent them off to bed. Lucas remembered about the party but he decided to keep it a surprise for Jess. He said goodnight to his little sister, then he went back to his own room, quickly falling asleep and dreaming of the beautiful brunette he couldn't wait to see tomorrow.


	4. Chapter 4

**I previously posted a review about the ages and I accidentally put the wrong ages for this story. The real ages are below.**

 **-Lucas, Zay - 17**

 **-Riley, Maya, Farkle, Smackle - 16 years old**

 **All in their sophomore year of high school. Sorry for the mix-up.**

* * *

Nobody's POV

Lucas was woken by his alarm, telling him to get up out of bed. It was only 8:00 and he still had 2 hours before he had to be at Riley's apartment. He finished his morning chores and fixed his room before going to wake up Jess. He walked into her room, kneeling next to her bed.

"Jess. Jessy, wake up." Lucas whispered, not wanting to wake his mom up.

"... Why? I'm tired…" She rolled over, facing away from her brother. Lucas laughed.

"So I guess you don't want to open your present today?" He tilted his head to the side and smiled when she turned to face him again.

"It's Christmas!" She gasped and screamed. Jess got out of her bed and jumped on Lucas, giving him her version of a hug. He spun her around and set her down.

"Okay. We have somewhere to go, so get dressed up. You can wear whatever you want, as long as it is from your closet, not mom's. I'll give you your present while we're walking, okay?" He kissed her forehead before walking out of her room to let her get ready. Lucas still had to get ready himself. He had _no_ idea what to wear because he'd never actually had a full on Christmas experience. It took him longer to get ready than Jess. She was on the other side of the door, knocking nonstop.

"Lucas! Hurry up! You take longer than a girl to get ready!"

He finally decided to just grab the closest thing to him, black jeans, a black v-neck, and a red bomber jacket. Looking at the time, it was already 9:30. He quickly threw on his clothes and threw open his door to find Jess waiting for him on the couch.

"Geez, finally! Why'd you take so long?" Suddenly, an idea popped into Jess' mind and she smiled. "You are trying to impress someone, a girl." She sing-songed.

Lucas could feel his face heat up, but her tried to cover it up by looking at what Jess had chosen to wear. He was shocked to see that she had actually picked out a great outfit for Christmas for a 7-year old. Jess was wearing the pink dress that Lucas bought her last year **{The dress Ava wears during Shawn and Katy's wedding}**.

"I like what you picked out. Now, let's get going. We are already running late. Grab a jacket and let me go tell mom we are leaving." Lucas walked to his mom's room and opened the door. It was a surprise to see that she was already awake. "Hey, momma. Jess and I are leaving now. I'm not sure what time we'll be back home."

"Okay. You two have fun, okay? I want to hear all about it when you get back." She sent them off, watching her two children walk down the mean streets of New York. Lucas began to lead Jess down the streets as safely as possible, toward Riley's apartment.

"Lucas, where are we going?" Jess was anxious and she hated surprises. The 7-year old would prefer just being told what was happening.

"You'll see. Don't worry, it's nowhere new. You'll know where we are when you see the place. I think you'll really love the surprise, Jess." He sure hoped so.

"Fine. How much farther do we have to walk?" Jess' feet were starting to get tired. Lucas realized that he hadn't thought about that. Jess had never walked this far to go somewhere.

"Um, here. Hop on." Lucas bent down, allowing Jess to get on his back. He gave her a piggy back ride the rest of the way to Riley's apartment. They got there exactly at 10:00 and Jess knew exactly where they were. Her smile brightened up her entire face as she watched Lucas press the button to buzz in. Over the intercom, he heard Riley ask him a question.

"Who is it?" Lucas smiled at the angelic voice he had come to love.

"Lucas."

"... Okay. I'll be ready in a minute."

"And Jessica."

"Ready now!" He laughed at how she acted around Jess. She was like a big sister. He could feel his breath catch as Riley opened the front door. Like always, she looked gorgeous.

"Hi! It's so good to see you, Jess! I missed you." Riley lifted Jess in her arms. Jess' smile was wider than ever when she saw Riley.

"I missed you and Auggie too and I love seeing you guys. But, Lucas never told me why we were coming here. So, why did we come here?"

Riley looked up at Lucas, as if to ask him if she could tell her. He nodded and smiled.

"Well, my family invited our friends and family to come over so we could all celebrate Christmas as one big family." Leaning in, to whisper the next part in Jess' ear, Riley smiled. "I also thought you might want to see Auggie. I think he might like you."

Even though, Riley was "whispering," Lucas could still hear every word and he couldn't help but smile at her words. The three of them were the only ones in the living room, everybody else was in other places of the apartment. Lucas desperately wanted some alone time with Riley.

"Hey, Jess." She turned to face him. "I have an idea. Why don't you go find Auggie? I'm sure he'd be excited to see you."

"I bet he would." Riley jumped in. "And, I bet Auggie would think you look beautiful today."

"Okay!" Jess took off running to find her friend that she hadn't seen in so long. Lucas found himself smiling again, he realized he'd be doing that a lot today.

"I think the relationship you two have is great. She really looks up to you."

"Yeah. She looks up to you, too. Jess loves coming over here. I should bring her around more often. I'm glad she gets to have this experience." Riley look up and smiled at him. She found herself getting lost in his emerald eyes, so to snap herself out of it, she tried something new. Riley reached out and grabbed Lucas' hand.

"You know, I miss being able to spend time alone together. Now, we're a little bit older and it's like all of our time is flying out the window. We have no time to make memories together." He looked down and intertwined their fingers, squeezing her hand for reassurance. Riley felt butterflies in her stomach and her heart rate increased.

"We can make the most of the time we still have before the next big steps in our lives. I'm scared to finish these next two years because I know they are going to fly by. That's why I try to be around my friends all the times, so I don't miss any chances to make memories with you guys." Lucas admitted.

"Aw. That's sweet. It's good to know I'm not the only one in this boat. Thank you for saying that. I can't wait to make a lot more memories with you in the future." She blushed when she heard how those words came out. "Um, I meant like with our friends too, of course." He tried to act as if her words didn't sting a little.

"Well, I personally want to make more memories with you in the future… Just the two of us." Riley's heart fluttered and leaped in her chest.

"… W-What do you mean by that?" She stuttered. "H-How would we do that, Lucas?"

"Well, we can start with this." Lucas stepped closer to Riley, grabbing her hand. "Riley Matthews, would you like to go out on a date with me?"

* * *

 **I literally have no idea if this story has been good or terrible so far. Please let me know.**


	5. Chapter 5

Nobody's POV

Riley stood there, eyes wide, staring into the emerald eyes in front of her. She was frozen in shock at his question. _'Oh my god! He asked me out! Oh my god! What do I do?'_ She was brought out of her thoughts when Lucas said something.

"Huh?" Riley didn't hear what he had said the second time.

"I asked if you wanted to go on a date with me… I-It's fine if you don't… " Riley could see the hurt in his eyes as he went to let go of her hands. Before he could, she held them tighter.

"Yes! I would love to go on a date with you!" Her smile lit up the entire room and her shout caught the attention of Cory. Her dad came running over.

"What happened?! I heard screaming." Cory looked at Riley and Lucas and saw them holding hands. His eyes widen. "AAAH! What is that? What are you doing? No, no touch!" Riley dropped Lucas' hand and they both found themselves missing the feeling of it. Topanga, Maya, and Josh ran into the room, worry written across their faces.

"What is going on over here?" Topanga looked directly at her husband.

"Look at this! HE… HIM… I… LUCAS… RILEY!" Maya and Josh were standing in the doorway, laughing at Cory's reaction. They could already tell what had happened. Topanga was annoyed and confused, so she turned to Riley.

"Can you explain, please? In real words, preferably."

"Lucas asked me out on a date. When dad came in, we were holding hands." Topanga rolled her eyes and turned to her idiotic husband.

"Cory, they're growing up. It's just a date. It's not like they're getting married yet. I know that, with these two, that's going to come a little later." Topanga looked back at Riley and Lucas and smiled. "Of course, you two can go on your 't pay attention to him."

"Thank you, Mrs. Matthews. I appreciate that. I was actually going to ask you first, but the timing was right and I couldn't wait before asking." Lucas explained himself.

"You were going to ask permission to _ask_ our daughter out on a date?" Cory was shocked.

"Yes sir. I wanted to do it properly." Lucas smiled at Riley, who smiled back.

"... Well, if a boy will go so far as to ask our permission just to ask our daughter out on a first date, then I guess he must really like her… I'm sorry for overreacting. I support your date." Riley beamed at her father and gave him a hug.

"Thank you, daddy! Love you." When she pulled away, Cory had tears in his eyes.

"... My baby is growing up…" He sniffled and faked a heartache. Topanga rolled her eyes.

"Oh, please, you big baby. Get over it. It was bound to happen sometime." She basically pushed Cory out of the room along with Josh and Maya, leaving Riley and Lucas alone to talk.

"So… Where are we going for our date?" Riley's curiosity go the better of her.

" _That_ is a surprise for later." Lucas smiled as Riley pouted.

"That's not fair! You know how I hate surprises…" He just laughed.

"Well, I hope my surprise changes your opinion on that. For now, let's go spend Christmas with our friends. Come on." Lucas held out his hand again and Riley took it.

They walked to the other room and were greeted by their friends and some of Riley's family. Uncle Eric, Uncle Josh, Katy and Shawn were in the room along with Maya, Farkle, Smackle, Zay, Auggie, and Jess. The next hours were filled with food, laughter, and joy. Eventually, the kids and the adults separated, each group needing their own time to talk. Auggie and Jess stayed in Auggie's room for most of the day. The teens made their way to the Bay Window. They stayed and talked for hours. Before they knew it, it was already almost 5:00 and it was almost time to open gifts. They all went out to the living room and Riley called the parents in from the kitchen. Lucas got Auggie and Jess from Auggie's room. Once everybody was gathered around, people started handing out and unwrapping presents, leaving wrapping paper all over the floor. Everybody had smiles on their faces as they were all happy with what they received. **{I only wrote about the gifts from Riley's perspective}**

Riley POV

Maya gave me her gift first. It was a small box. When I opened the box and I saw the two little rings sitting there, I gasped and looked at Maya.

"Maya! What-" I started to ask her about the rings, but she cut me off.

"You gave me this ring when we were in 7th grade." She pointed to the ring sitting on her right index finger. "I figured, since it's been like 4 years and we are changing and growing, that the rings should change with us too." Maya took a ring from the box and switched out her ring. She handed me the other and I did the same, putting our old rings back in the box.

Then I opened my gift from Farkle. He got me a huge puzzle.

"... I may have gotten the puzzles for everybody. They are all the same and they have over 1000 pieces. I wanted to see who could finish the puzzle first out of the 6 of us." Farkle explained.

I smiled at him and opened my gift from Smackle. I pulled out a hardcover copy of my favorite book, _To Kill a Mockingbird._ I walked over and gave her a hug, for the first time, she hugged back!

"Thank you Smackle. I love this book." She smiled.

"I knew you would. There's a lot of symbolism and the quotes from this book touch deep down. I think this is what I'm always going to remember about you."

"That I like _To Kill a Mockingbird_?" I was confused.

"No. That you touch people deep down." I smiled at her. She was changing because of us.

"Thank you, Smackle." I was going to keep talking to her, but Zay stopped me impatiently.

"Yeah, yeah! Touchy feely! Open mine! Open mine!" We all laughed at him. When I opened the little box he gave me, my eyes went wide.

"... Wow… Zay… I-" He cut me off.

"I wanted to give you something that we wouldn't ever forget. So I gave you something special."I pulled the object out of the box and Lucas gasped.

"Woah, Zay… You gave her your cookie? I thought grandma only gives you one every year…" Lucas looked beyond shocked.

"... Thank you, Zay… This means a lot." I smiled at him and gave him a hug.

I looked to where Lucas had been sitting, but he wasn't there anymore. I wondered about it for a little, then eventually just figured he could have gone to the bathroom or something like that. I looked for a gift from him, but I didn't see one. Everyone else had been unwrapping presents too so the floor was covered with wrapping paper. I began looking all over the floor, covering my actions by telling people that I was simply picking up the wrapping paper to throw it in the trash. I picked up almost all of the wrapping paper and I hadn't found any gift labeled to me, from Lucas. Looking at my friends, I saw that Maya, Zay, Farkle, and Smackle had received gifts from him. I would be lying if I said it didn't hurt to not get a gift from Lucas, but I kept it to myself. I still hadn't seen Lucas since he disappeared, so I looked around for him and I found him sitting and talking with Jess. My disappointment faded for the most part when I saw them together, and I smiled. I could hear what they were talking about, but they didn't know I was listening. Lucas was talking to Jess about how gifts weren't the most important part of the holidays.

Nobody's POV

"Jess, I know you wanted more gifts and I promise I will work to get you more, but right now, we just aren't able to get you them. Before momma and I think about gifts, we think about what we need at home and putting food on the table." Riley's eyebrows furrowed. 'Why hadn't Lucas told us that his family didn't have the money to pay for gifts? Or for everyday needs?' She kept listening.

"I know. You've promised me that every year and you always do get me those presents you say you will… but, it's not the same as opening them on Christmas, when I'm with friends and our family." Riley could hear the slight tone of disappointment in Jess' voice. Lucas' face fell.

He knew she was right and he knew exactly how she felt. For the last 10 years, he hadn't received more than 20 gifts in total; one for every Christmas and one for every birthday. But, then he met new people and he made new friends who cared enough to actually get him gifts. They had helped him learn that the holidays were a time of joy, and they were about spending time with family and friends. Unfortunately, it was different for Lucas than it was for them. He didn't have a whole family, he had a broken one, a little one. But, Lucas was smart, and he knew better than to think that way.

"You see all of these people? We may not all be related by blood, but we're all family. The people over there… Those are my friends. It took me a while, but they taught me that I don't need a lot to be happy. My friends, you, momma, and Pappy Joe are all I need in this world to be happy… Jess, you don't need presents or toys to be happy… You just need to have the right people." Riley's heart fluttered. 'Wow… Lucas sure does have a way with words.'

Riley smiled as she saw Jess give her big brother a hug. She decided that she shouldn't keep eavesdropping on their somewhat private conversation, so she walked away to go find Maya. Even when she walked away, the thought of Lucas' family barely being able to provide for themselves, nagged at her. 'How did he manage to show up at school, acting as if he has the best life, when he has to work to help his mom provide for his family?' She tried not to let it bother her, but she couldn't help it. Riley Matthews is a person who always has to fix things that aren't right. She knew she was going to help Lucas fix this.


	6. Chapter 6

Nobody's POV

It was already 6:00 when Lucas and Jess finished talking and Lucas joined his friends again. They were all wrapped up in the gifts they received and talked amidst each other, while he just sat there, staring at his still wrapped, untouched gifts.

"Hey" Lucas jumped, startled by the sound. He looked up to see Riley standing in front of him. "Why haven't you opened your presents?" She sat down next to him.

"I don't know." He lied. "I just haven't felt like opening them yet."

"Oh… Um, can we talk? Like, privately?" Lucas could hear the concern that Riley's voice was laced with.

"Sure." He followed Riley out of the main room, into her room. They sat together at the Bay Window. For a little while, there was just silence. Lucas had no idea what she wanted to talk to him about; he just hoped it wasn't bad. Riley took a deep breath. She knew she had to tell him, but she didn't know how well Lucas would react.

"I… I may have overheard your conversation with Jess…" Lucas tensed slightly, his eyes widening a little. Riley looked down, guilt suddenly overwhelming her.

"Uh… H-How much did you hear?" It almost sounded to Riley as if Lucas was scared. It sounded like his voice was filled with fear.

"I heard most of it… a-and I heard you talking to Jess about the gifts and about how you and your mom work so hard to make her happy… Lucas? How long have you been working to make money for your family?" She spoke softly and slowly, not wanting him to close off. Lucas knew she wasn't going to let this go. She is Riley Matthews. She'll stop at nothing to help her friends. He knew that. It's one of the things he loves about her. He sighed.

"… 3 years… When I was 13... M-My dad… h-he left." Riley's heart broke for Lucas, as did his voice. "He just left… My mom hasn't talked about it… She refuses to tell anybody about it… S-She says it doesn't matter a-and that it's her problem to worry about… She doesn't want me to get more upset and she doesn't think I deserve to carry that burden with me… I-I've tried to talk her into talking to me, letting it all out… It's like she just _can't_ talk to me about it…"

Lucas stuffed his face in his hands, sniffling softly, failing to hold back his tears. This was the first time in a long time that he had talked to anybody about his past life, the last time being Zay before he moved to New York. Sitting there and talking to Riley about his messed up past brought back bad memories of his parents arguing, his mom telling him to take Jess to the other room, hearing the door slam when his father walked out.

He couldn't be strong anymore, not when he was with Riley. Lucas Friar, for the first time in a long time, broke. Riley couldn't believe what she was hearing. The wheels in her head started turning as she comprehended all of the information she was being told.

 _'Poor Lucas… Poor Jessica… I wish he would've told us before. How could we not know that his dad left? And how come he never let us know? Why did he keep it a secret from us? How could we, as his friends, not see that he was hurting on the inside? Had he been hiding it really well or did we just not pay enough attention to notice anything? How does he always act like there's nothing wrong? Had he been trying to get us to notice his pain, and we just didn't care to see it? How could Lucas Friar, our secure western hero, be so broken on the inside, yet hide it so well? How well do I_ _ **really know**_ _Lucas Friar?'_

As much as Riley just wanted to keep asking herself these questions, she knew she couldn't just ignore the fact that one of her best friends was breaking down beside her. She wrapped her arm around him, pulling him close in a hug. Without even realizing it, Riley had started to cry herself. It was just the 2 of them, sitting at the Bay Window in silence, and Lucas had never felt safer.

He sat there with Riley, wishing he'd told her before so he could've had a shoulder to lean on whenever this specific topic came up. Her head rested on his shoulder and his head rested on hers. They stayed like that for a while before Lucas looked at the time and realized that it was already 7:30. He had to get Jess home soon, even though his mom didn't give them a specific curfew.

"Hey, Riles?" He lifted his head up, Riley following suit, sitting up straight.

"Yeah?"

"I want to thank you for everything you've done for me; listening, inviting us over, staying when I need you the most. And I would love to stay here with you, sitting and talking, but it's getting a little late and I think that Jess and I should start heading home soon."

"Okay… I'll always be here if you ever need to talk."

"Thank you, Riley."

Lucas and Riley stood up, walking toward her door before Lucas remembered.

"Oh, about that date… Do you think you'll be up for a little adventure and maybe a little bit of early morning exercise?" He was nervous, afraid she wouldn't like what he had planned for their first date. Lucas had come up with the idea days prior, waiting for the right moment to ask.

"Absolutely!… Wait. How early is early? Like 7:00?"

"More like 5:30." Lucas laughed.

"5:30?!" She had to stop herself from screaming. "Are you serious?"

"You don't have to… It's only if you want to come with me to see something amazing." He couldn't lie, Lucas was beyond nervous that Riley wouldn't come with him, but she had already agreed to a date. All he had to do was plan a different one if she said 'no'. But, he got lucky.

"... 5:30 it is… I can't wait to see what's so amazing. When is this date going to be?" Lucas smiled at her response. He couldn't wait to show her.

"Saturday? I can come pick you up around 5?" He suggested. Riley nodded.

"That sounds great. But, I will have to ask my parents first… You know how my dad is."

"Yeah, of course. Let me know."

"I will… Can you at least tell me where we're going? You made it sound all interesting and now I'm even more curious… Please?" Riley gave Lucas her best puppy eyes. He sighed.

"… I plan on taking you hiking… Zay and I were exploring one day and we found a nice park with great trails and a great view, now I go there every day." Lucas smiled at the memory.

"That sounds nice... but every day? Doesn't it wear you out? Make you tired?"

"It did at first, but now I'm used to it. Plus, the view makes it all worth it."

"Well, I can't wait, but you may have to go a little slower for me. I'm not the most athletic person, you know?" Lucas laughed a little.

"Don't worry. You'll do just fine… I, uh… I guess I should go get Jess now."

"Yeah, it's getting a little late for her, huh?" Riley led him out of her room, back to the living room area. Jess and Auggie were sitting in the same spot as the were before, playing with some of Auggie's toys. Riley and Lucas smiled at their younger siblings.

"Hey, Jess? It's time to go."

"Aww… Do we have to? I wanna keep playing." She pouted. Lucas gave her a small smile.

"Yeah, we have to… It's getting late. Momma is probably expecting us to be home soon."

"... Fine." Getting up, she waved at Auggie. "Bye, Auggie!"

"Bye, Jessy! I hope you come back over soon."

"Me too." Auggie and Jess exchanged smiles and Jess set his toys on the floor before Lucas picked her up.

"Don't worry. I'm sure we'll be back over here plenty more times." Lucas said while smiling at Riley. His heart fluttered when she returned the smile. He didn't know why that particular smile made him feel that way, but he had to admit, he liked the feeling.

"Alright, Jess. Let's go home to see, okay? Mom is probably waiting."

"Okay."

Riley spoke up. "Wait a minute. Where's my hug, Jess?" Lucas snickered and set Jess on the floor and she ran over to Riley. They squeezed each other in a tight hug. "Hey, Jess. Do you want to try going out of my Bay Window?"

"What's the Bay Window?"

"Here. Follow me. I'll show you." Riley grabbed Jess' hand and led her back to her room. Lucas followed behind them. When they got to Riley's room, Riley attempted to open the window, but it wouldn't budge. She checked to see that it was unlocked and kept trying to slide it open. Nothing. She sighed in defeat.

"Lucas? Can you come here and try to get this thing open?"

"Sure." Lucas walked over to the window and attempted to pull it up. It didn't even move a little. He kept trying, almost afraid he would break it if he pulled any harder.

"It's stuck pretty good. I don't think it wants to be opened." Lucas watched as Riley laughed at his comment and raised an eyebrow.

"I didn't know the Bay Window had feelings… Let me get my dad and see if he can figure out what's wrong with it." Riley left and came back with her dad quickly.

"What's wrong in here? You…" Cory glared at Lucas before looking a little to the left and seeing Jess standing there. His harsh look softened immediately. "Oh… You got lucky this time Mr. Friar… Anyways, what seems to be the problem in here?"

"I wanted to show Jess my Bay Window. I wanted to see if she would like to go through it for the first time, but it won't open. Lucas and I both tried to open it, but it isn't even budging!" She crossed her arms in front of her, pouting slightly.

"You guys can't go out the Bay Window, not tonight." Cory had a strict voice.

"Why not, dad? What's so different tonight than any other night?" Riley and Lucas were both confused,

"Tonight is different because it's snowing really hard outside. Your window probably isn't opening because it's possible that it froze shut on the outside." He explained.

"I didn't know it was snowing that hard… How are we supposed to get home?" Lucas asked.

"You guys aren't, at least not tonight. We already called all the parents and told them that you guys will be staying here tonight. Sorry, guys." Cory gave Lucas and Jess a sympathetic look before walking out of the room.

"Lucas? We can't go home?" Jess looked up at her older brother with sad eyes. Lucas crouched down and gently set his large hands on her small shoulders.

"I'm sorry, Jessy… We can't walk home in the snow… We can go home and see momma once the snow lightens up and it isn't as cold outside. Okay?… But, for now, I guess this gives you more time to go play with Auggie, right? Make the best out of this."

"Okay… I'll be in Auggie's room!" The smile was back on Jess' face as she skipped out of the room. Riley and Lucas smiled as they watched her leave. Then, it was just the two of them, alone at Riley's Bay Window.


	7. Chapter 7

**Here's a twist.**

 **I made some changes to this story because the plot line was really off.**

* * *

Riley's POV

It was just Lucas and I now, in silence. Before either of us could figure out what to say, my dad came back into the room.

"Okay. I wanna make some things clear with you two. One, no staying in any room alone for longer than 5 minutes! Two, absolutely no lovey dovey stuff! Ick!" He shook his head, taking a deep breath. "Look… Even if you guys don't realize whatever is happening, there is obviously something going on between you two… I trust you two. You guys are very responsible and smart, and I trust that you will do nothing extreme until you're ready."

"DAD!" My eyes went wide, listening to what he was saying. I looked at Lucas. He looked nothing short of absolutely stunned.

"... Uh… M-Mr. Matthews… I-I… I have _no_ intention of-" My dad held up a hand, telling him to stop and listen.

"Mr. Friar, I'm well aware of the fact that you don't… I just needed to make sure we were all on the same page and that we were all clear about this situation. Are we?"

"Yes, sir." Once my dad finally left, I closed the door, and Lucas leaned against the wall. His hand wiped over his face and ran through his hair. "Oh! Thank goodness that's over! I thought he was near ready to kill me right then and there." His face was beet red.

"... Sorry about that… You know my dad." I smiled sheepishly.

"It's fine. I-"

"AAAHH!" It was Jess. "FIRE!"

"What?!" We jumped up from the window and ran out into the living room. My whole family and all my friends was already out there.

"Where's the fire? What happened?" Lucas' voice was laced with worry. His questions were pointed towards my dad.

"I-I'm not sure… Who yelled 'Fire'?" We all looked around but nobody said anything. All of a sudden, Lucas' face paled to a ghostly white.

"Jess" His voice was so quiet, I almost didn't hear him. But, I did.

"Oh god… Where are Auggie and Jess?" We looked at each other before suddenly sprinting towards Auggie's room. Sure enough, we saw flames coming from his room.

"JESS?! AUGGIE?!" Lucas tried to get as close as possible to the door without getting too close to the flames. He motioned for me to stand farther back. "JESSICA!"

"Lucas?" Jess' voice was small, yet audible.

"Jess! Jessy, I'm right here… Is Auggie next to you?"

"I'm right here, Lucas!" I let out a breath that I didn't know I had been holding. Thank god Auggie was okay.

"Can you guys get to the door?" Lucas tried to remain calm, but I could see that he was frantic.

"I-I can't see. I don't know where the door is." Auggie's voice was shaky. I could tell he was scared.

"Okay… Auggie, I need you to keep your eyes open and look for me. I'm coming in." My eyes went wide. I quickly grabbed his arm.

"What? Lucas, you can't! You'll hurt yourself!"

"It'll be okay. I'm more worried about them than about myself. I'll be okay." I sighed and shakily removed my hand. He smiled before turning to head into the room.

"Auggie! I'm coming in." Lucas covered his mouth and nose with his shirt and got low before stepping in. He disappeared into the room. My heart was pounding.

Something didn't feel right. I was so scared. I could hear the commotion from the other room as smoke began to filter out into the entire apartment. My dad was giving out orders to everybody and the door opened and closed. Suddenly, my dad, Maya, Farkle, and Zay showed up around the corner. I opened my mouth to speak, but quickly closed it when I saw Auggie crawl out of his room. His face was tinted a shade of gray from the ashes and smoke.

"Auggie! Oh thank goodness, you're alright!" I pulled him close into a tight hug. I pulled away and checked him for any injuries.

"Daddy, can you take Auggie over there?"

"Yeah. Come on, bubba." He picked Auggie up and carried him out of the apartment. I turned back to the still flaming room, waiting anxiously for the next person to come out. Maya walked closer to me and put a hand on my shoulder.

"Hey, Riles. It's going to be okay. If Ranger Rick got Auggie out, there's no way he'd let Jess get stuck in there… They're going to make it out… I just know it."

"I know he wouldn't…"

It seemed like forever before there was any sign of movement from inside the room. I was holding my breath and my heart was beyond racing. _'How did this happen? And in Auggie's room? What had happened in such a short amount of time?'_ I was broken out of my thoughts when Jess came crawling through the doorway.

"Jess!" I ran, lifting her in my arms. She was covered with soot and she was sniffling. "What's wrong?"

"… I-I got b-burned on m-my ankle… it-it h-hurts… L-Lucas… he's still inside… I c-couldn't s-see h-him a-a-anymore…" Jess was full blown crying and I had tears in my eyes as well. Lucas was still in the flaming room and the last person who was inside with him, had no idea if he was okay. I handed Jessica off to Farkle and told him to bring her outside. Without any hesitation, I turned back towards Auggie's room and started to step in when Maya stopped me.

"Riley! You can't go in there! You'll get hurt!"

"Lucas is still inside! I have to get to him! I need to get him out!" Without listening to her reply, I yanked my arm from her grasp and went inside the burning room. Smoke instantly filled my lungs and I remembered to get lower. I crawled around, looking for Lucas. "Lucas! Can you hear me?!" There was no reply. My heart sank. I kept crawling until I bumped into something. Lucas!

"Lucas? Lucas!" He was lying on his back next to some pieces of the collapsed ceiling and his face was black with soot. I looked him over and saw a fairly bad burn on his left arm, but other than that, I couldn't see much. I tried waking him up to no avail. Eventually, I resorted to trying to drag him out. I got pretty far until the burning sensation in my lungs was becoming too much. I basically collapsed on the floor. I could see the door and the light shining in from the hallway.

"MAYA! ZAY!" I used the rest of my energy to shout for help. I could hear them talking and moving around outside before I could faintly see Zay step in. My head was spinning and my eyes were hazy. I didn't remember much more before the room suddenly became drastically darker as I heard a crash and glass shattering. I heard Maya scream before I completely blacked out.


	8. Chapter 8

Maya's POV

"MAYA! ZAY!" My head snapped up at the sound of our names. It was Riley.

"RILEY?!" No response.

Zay and I looked at each other before he quickly took action, stepping into Auggie's room. The tears that had been forming in my eyes finally fell. I waited anxiously, debating whether I should just run in and help Zay or not. It felt like 2 hours, when in reality it had been 2 minutes, before Zay finally came back out of the room, dragging/pulling Riley out. I ran over to them, helping Zay bring Riley completely out of harm's way. Once we were a safe distance away from the burning room, I realized something.

"Where's Lucas?" I looked up at Zay with worry etched on my face.

"I couldn't bring both of them out of that room… I got to Riley first so I brought her out first. I have to go back in to get Lucas." I sighed shakily.

"I… I know you do… Just…Just don't get hurt, okay?" As much as I didn't want him to go back in, I knew we couldn't just leave one of our best friends in a burning room.

"... You know I'll try…" With that, Zay stepped back into the room. I turned back to Riley and checked for any injuries. She didn't look too bad at all, probably just smoke inhalation. I tried to keep my attention on Riley and not on the condition of Lucas. That didn't last long. My head snapped in the direction of the burning room when I heard a crash and a shout. It was Zay's shout.

"ZAY?! Are you okay?! What happened?!" My heart was racing and I was near hyperventilating. "ZAY?!" I got up and ran closer to Auggie's burning room. The flames must have doubled in size at the very least. I could no longer see anything past the doorway. I could literally feel my heart drop all the way to the floor.

"ZAY, CAN YOU HEAR ME?! ZAY?!" When I got no response, I leaned against the wall and slid down. I couldn't hold any of my tears back. They came bursting out as if a dam had been broken through. The deafening sound of the fire alarm was all I heard until the front door opened and closed with a 'slam' and I looked up to see Farkle and Smackle running towards me.

"Maya! What happened? Is Riley okay? Where are Lucas and Zay?" Farkle was talking so fast that I could barely comprehend any of his questions. Smackle silently told him to stop, relax, and check on Riley. Once he walked away, Smackle crouched down next to me.

"Maya, calm down… It's going to be okay. I think I am going to step in for a second and see if they're still… No. I know Lucas and Zay are okay. You wanna know why?" I stayed quiet so she continued. "I know that because Lucas promised Riley that he would never leave her and Zay promised that he would always be here for you while you were waiting for Boing… I know they would never leave us. You know they would never leave us… So let's have faith that they won't. Okay? But, I do have to go in there… Farkle and I are the only ones who know how to properly move around fire and right now, Farkle seems to have too much on his mind."

"Smackle, I can't let another one of my friends go inside that burning room because… I can't guarantee that you'll come out…" I could feel the panic rise in my throat as I thought about possibly losing another friend to a stupid fire that nobody knows anything about.

"I know it's scary Maya, but I _promise you_ I will be okay. I promise that I will come out of that room in one piece… Okay? I promise, you." I could see her hesitate before she wrapped her arms around me.

"Thanks, Smackle… Please be careful… Come back out safely."

"I will." She smiled, stood, and walked into Auggie's flame-filled room. No more than a minute later, Smackle was back out of the room, Zay crawling behind her.

"Zay! You're okay!" I jumped up and ran to him, giving him a hug. I pulled back to look at him. He looked exhausted.

"I'm okay… I was trying to get Lucas out when part of the ceiling caved in… He… He's still stuck in there. There's a pretty big piece of the ceiling on his legs and we couldn't move it away. Smackle here told me I had already been inside for too long and that I needed to get out." Now that I was actually looking, I realized that he was the same as Riley. He was just suffering from smoke inhalation, but he had a very slight burn on his cheek. Before I could say anything, Smackle and Farkle spoke up.

"We are going back in so we can get Lucas out. Maya, get Riley and Zay outside, away from all the smoke and flames." They disappeared into the flames.

"You heard them. Let's get Riley and you outta here." Zay and I lifted Riley and carried her out of the apartment. Her parents ran to us as soon as the door opened.

"Maya! Zay! Riley! Are you guys alright?" Mr. Matthews' voice wavered as he was obviously worried.

"Don't worry, Matthews. We're alright. I think Riley just passed out from smoke inhalation. I have to go back in there to help Farkle and Smackle with Lucas. H-He's still in the room."

"What? You guys didn't get him out? I'm coming back in there with you." Mrs. Matthews' voice was firm.

"I think it'd be better if you guys stayed out here and took care of Auggie, Jess, Riley, and Zay… Farkle, Smackle, and I can get Lucas out. Don't worry. Did you call the fire department?"

"Yes. They should be here in about 3 minutes." Mr. Matthews gave me a hug. "I already know you will, but… be careful… Don't get hurt… As soon as Lucas is out, you guys all need to get out of there, you hear me?"

"Yes sir." I smiled before rushing back into the apartment. The smoke was now heavy throughout the entire house. I didn't even think before running back towards Auggie's room. I saw Smackle pulling from outside the room and I could hear her and Farkle shouting to one another over the roaring flames.

"Smackle! What do you need me to do?"

"Stay out here. Grab Lucas' arms and start pulling. I'm going to go back inside to help Farkle move the beam off of his legs."

I quickly switched spots with her, feeling the warmth from the flames reaching my fingers. I could see the burns all along Lucas' hands and arms and it made me feel sick to my stomach. I followed Smackle's orders, pulling on his arms until I felt him start to slide out from under the ridiculously heavy beam. _'How ironic. If Lucas wasn't in this position, he'd probably lift this beam off of himself with no problem.'_ I kept pulling and tugging until half of his body was out of the room. Smackle came back out and helped me drag him the rest of the way out. Once he was out, Farkle emerged from the room. I remembered what Mr. Matthews said.

"Alright, let's go! We shouldn't stay in here much longer!" The three of us had some trouble, but we managed to somehow carry/drag Lucas out of the burning apartment building. Once we got outside, we all collapsed on the ground. There were paramedics already there. Mr. and Mrs. Matthews, and Shawn ran over to us, followed by the paramedics. My mom, Josh, and Eric stayed with Riley, Zay, Auggie, and Jessica. Riley was now awake and talking to a fireman and a paramedic.

"Are you guys okay?" Shawn helped me to my feet. Farkle and Smackle were okay, just winded from having to basically carry Lucas all throughout the apartment complex. Mr. and Mrs. Matthews stood by as a few paramedics helped Lucas. Firefighters were hurrying with their equipment to stop the now raging fire. There was a fairly large crowd in the area, behind the barricade the police had put up. Soon enough, some more paramedics came over to Farkle, Smackle, and I and we were brought over to an ambulance for examination.

Topanga's POV

As soon as the kids came barreling out of the complex, Cory, Shawn and I ran to them. For the most part, they all seemed okay. Farkle and Smackle were standing on their own while Shawn paid close attention to Maya. That left Cory and I with Lucas and the medics. Even while he was lying face down on the pavement, we could see the burn marks on his arms and the darker areas on his jeans. Carefully, the paramedics flipped Lucas over onto his back.

"Oh my goodness!" I was horrified. The fire had eaten away at his clothing. There were burn marks on his shirt and the fire had burned through parts of his jacket and jeans. I was lost in my thoughts until I heard a little girl's scream. Jessica.

Nobody's POV

"LUCAS!" Jess tried to run to her brother, but Zay quickly grabbed her and held onto her tight before she could reach him and the paramedics surrounding him.

"Let me go! Lucas! Put me down, Zay!" She was thrashing and kicking in Zay's arms but he wouldn't let go. Jess had tears streaming down her face. "Please! Zay let me go!"

"I'm sorry, Jessy. I can't do that. We need to let the nice men do their job, okay? If we don't let them do what they need to do, they won't be able to save Lucas. He's going to be okay. I promise. He wouldn't ever leave you." Zay pulled Jessica closer to him and turned them around so that she couldn't see Lucas anymore. He gently covered her eyes. "Jess, I don't want you to look. I know Lucas would kill me if I let you see him like this." He continued talking to her until a medic came over to them.

"Excuse me? Can you both please come with me?" Zay followed the medic to the back of them ambulance with Jess in his arms. "Do you have any known injuries?"

"I think I have a couple very slight burns. This little lady here has a burn on her ankle." Zay continued making small talk with the paramedic. They incorporated Jess into their conversation too because they knew they had to get her mind off of Lucas.

Meanwhile, the paramedics had gotten Lucas onto the stretcher and were bringing him over to another ambulance. Once they had him situated, they were about to close the doors when Riley stopped them.

"Wait! Can I ride with him?"

"... Alright. Hurry, we don't have time to waste."

Riley jumped into the back of the ambulance and sat next to Lucas. She grabbed his limp hand and held it tight. The tears were rolling down her cheeks, landing on his hand. Riley just sat there and cried into his hand while the paramedics bustled about the moving ambulance.

"... Ugh… Uh, my hand is wet." Lucas' voice was hoarse and weak. Riley's head shot up at the sound of Lucas' voice..

"Lucas! You're awake! H-How do you feel? That's a dumb question… Sorry…" Lucas smiled at her and laughed before realizing that it hurt, and started coughing.

"It's okay… I honestly feel terrible, but it's okay because you're here with me. Thank you for being her for me."

"Anytime…" She hadn't wanted to say anything, but curiosity got the better of her. "What happened in there?"

"... Honestly, I-I don't really remember it all… I got Auggie out, and-and then…" As Lucas kept talking, his voice got weaker, quieter. "I-I think I pushed Jess towards the door…Then some of the ceiling fell… a-and I passed out…I… I'm t-tired" When he was done talking, his voice was barely at a whisper, his eyes slowly fluttering shut.

"No… no, no, no… Lucas? Lucas!"He was trying his hardest to keep his eyes open. "Look at me… Lucas! I need you to stay awake… Lucas?" His eyes kept fluttering open and closed as he spoke.

"... I… I-I…"

"What? What is it, Lucas?" Her voice was soft. "Come on, stay awake and tell me…"

"I-I love you, Ri-Riley…" As his eyes slid shut, a paramedic rushed over, gently moving Riley out of the way so he could focus on Lucas. Riley's eyes were wide and her heart rate increased as she leaned against the wall of the ambulance, trying to process what Lucas had just said.


End file.
